My Wedding Day Makeup

Tomorrow is our 5th anniversary so I thought I would share a few photos from our wedding along with the details of my dress + my wedding day makeup. We said I do on October 1st, 2011 at the Madren Center in Clemson, SC. Zach and I met at Clemson and both graduated from there so needless to say it’s a special place for us. Plus it just so happens to be halfway between my hometown in SC and his in NC so it worked out really well for our family and friends too. We were friends for years and years before we started dating and then after college dated seriously for several years so when it came time for us to get engaged we weren’t wasting any time. Zach popped the question on June 3rd, we checked the home football schedule (let’s be serious I already had a google doc with dates and options ready to go) and set the date for October 1st. Now a 4 month engagement might freak some people out but I happen to be one of the worlds most decisive people and I love a good challenge.

I wanted an extremely laid back outdoor wedding all in one location. I love a beautiful church wedding but a church wedding equals a lot of coordinating and getting to the reception and honestly in my opinion a lot of wasted time. I knew that we only had 400 of our closest friends and family in town for that one day so maximizing the time spent socializing was important to me. The Madren Center was perfect for this. We were married on the lawn by the lake and then had the reception feet away in a huge brick pavilion. My brother-in-law married us and did a superb job honoring my request to please make it the shortest ceremony possible. I actually think it lasted 16 minutes start to finish. We honored the Lord, said our vows, prayed and got on with the program. The ceremony was at 5pm and by 7pm we had already had the wedding, all of the photos, cocktail hour, wedding party introductions, parent dances and cake cutting complete and were ready to party. It was simple, relaxed and a great evening spent celebrating with our loved ones.

Fast forward five years and I still really love the look of our wedding. There are of course a hundred things I could change now that my eyes have been opened to all the glories of the blog world and with Pinterest in full force but all in all I still look back on the theme fondly. If you are a frequent reader of my blog you probably care about the style + beauty aspects so let’s dive right in!

My dress was by NYC based designer Marisa and had a silk charmeuse underlay with French alencon lace draped over. The lace trim had an “eyelash” finish on the sweetheart neckline and chapel train skirt. I love the pattern of the lace and the trumpet silhouette. Did I mention I worked at a bridal boutique for years? I have helped my share of brides find and love their dress and one thing I knew going into my wedding was that I wanted all lace and an extremely simple and delicate illusion veil. The lovely staff at Solutions Bridal in Orlando was so great and found me a beautiful ivory silk tulle cut edge veil by Erin Cole. I finished off the look by having straps from a Rivini gown sewn into the dress to form a belt and accentuate my never to be that tiny again waistline. I loved everything about my wedding day garb down to the rose colored Badgley Mischka wedges I wore. My bridesmaids wore the J.Crew bridesmaid dress of their choosing in taupe which coordinated so well with the natural florals made by my friend Suzie of Statice Flowers.

My makeup was 100% Bobbi Brown because it’s my absolute favorite and if you’re ever going to use something as an excuse to get all new makeup then what better than your wedding?! Here is what I’m wearing: